Electrically conductive fabric has gained increasing attention for its potential application in a wide variety of devices including wearable electronics. Known methods of imparting conductivity to fabric, however, such as the incorporation of metals can result in issues such as loss of flexibility, weight increase, or the changing of texture.
Known approaches to form conductive fabric include use of graphene fibers from graphene oxide, infusing fabric with graphene oxide followed by reduction to graphene, transferring a patterned film made through chemical vapor deposition (CVD), and dispersing graphene with a surfactant that is then removed after infusion into the fabric with nitric acid. Unfortunately, graphene produced through the reduction of graphene oxide has severely reduced electrical and mechanical properties, CVD is not cost effective, and harsh chemical treatments that may affect fabrics are required to remove surfactants.
Intrinsically conducting polymers find wide application because of their conductive properties, low cost in manufacturing, mechanical flexibility, durability, and ease of processing. Intrinsically conducting polymers exhibit remarkably high conductivity and electrochromism, the ability to change colors when a potential is applied. In the field of smart textiles, conductive fabrics can be prepared using various methods; one method being to coat the fibers with conductive polymers.
There remains a need in the art for new, electrically conductive fabrics and textiles and simple, cost effective, and scalable processes to create such electrically conductive textiles.